A Shimmy By The Sea Survivor Story
By Sherry "Kiera" Allen
From JAREEDA, March 2002

As I sit here reflecting upon the weekend I just experienced, words that come to my mind are: inspiration, spiritual, feminine, powerful, and pure joy. Only those who personally experienced Shimmy by the Sea 2002 in Corpus Christi, Texas, could possibly imagine the fun we had this weekend. As Jeannette would say, "we danced hard and lived easy." The teachers this year were fantastic. Ricardo Villa has a graceful "total attitude" flamenco style that dazzled the Saturday morning class. His inspirational stories, words of encouragement, and personal anecdotes inspired everyone. "Remember," he says, " the star doesn't give it all up in the beginning. Take it slow...show some additude."

Shoshanna, Oh Shoshanna! Shoshanna, from Arcata, California, also taught and performed at the workshop. She exhibited style, grace, elegance, and a total passion to the music she loves to dance to. Shoshanna taught us double veil, four-yard veil, fan techniques, and skirt dancing. She wowed everyone in the Friday and Saturday night shows with her gorgeous costumes and beautiful dance style.

Miabella, what a treat to both take classes from her and to have the privilege of seeing her perform. This is one teacher who really makes sure you get your money's worth. Brandi, from the Mystic Dancers, says, "Oh, my God! She is so wonderful! When I talk to her, I go speechless." Although I did not take part in her Friday afternoon class on sword and floorwork, I did take her Sunday class on combinations. 'Oh, my God' is right. We started the class with a strength building workout. Her music was fast and danceable. The class moved fast, learning a series of combinations, for which she gave us notes at the end of the class. Miabella's performance on Saturday night was nothing short of awsome. The strength and control of her dance left many of us promising to work a little harder on our own dance practice.

Shireem's class was also a success, completing an entire hula for the girls to take home. The Saturday night show included a performance by her troupe, the Pacific Islanders, so the end result was lots of hula practice was witnessed by all. The Pacific Islanders performed a Samoan Fire Knife dance and Tahitian otea to live drums.

Sunday night after the workshop, a few of us die-hard belly dancers gathered for an intimate viewing of the show videos along with pizza. It was all agreed upon that the most stress-relieving acts to watch were Todd from the Pacific Islanders performing this years' skit, and the continuing saga of Little Egypt.

The 17th Annual Shimmy by the Sea was a complete success, being held for the second year at the Raddison Hotel on the sunny Corpus Christi beach. For me personally, it was the best workshop we have had yet. The hotel is only minutes away from the Lexington Museum, the Texas State Aquarium, and downtown Corpus Christi. There are even restaruants and clubs within walking distance. So for those of you who haven't made it to Shimmy by the Sea yet, we will see y'all next year for dancing, fun, and food!

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